friends are friends forever.

finally, summer is here and i have a chance to breathe.  between weddings, side jobs, travel and visits from friends i've not had a chance to blog since (gasp) february!  i have been up to things, but have failed to share them with my large audience (wink!) i know you've all missed me, so may this bit of work tide you over until i can post some more things i've been working on...

this is a friendship quilt. now i can't take credit for the idea, i was just the seamstress.  for a recent bridal shower, we had all the guests write out a square for the bride which shared a memory, advice or just some lovely words. we then presented it to her at the rehearsal dinner.  its a great way to creatively display your friendship forever.

stage coach.

in hopes of taking advantage of the tax credit and upgrading to a new home, we've been looking at a number of houses lately.  in order to buy we will in turn have to sell...not an easy task these days. as such, we've been encouraged to de-clutter and "stage" our home.

the master bedroom has been a haphazard pile of mis-matched furniture pieces including two night stands (i used that word loosely). one resembled a fat stack of wood pieced together to form what i think is the heaviest piece of furniture in my home, and the other was an IKEA tv tray stained in cocoa, of course, match my dresser from second time around (yes, i bought it in college.)  needless to say leaving these items in the room would hinder any attempt at "staging".

i scoured the aisles of hobby lobby in hopes of finding a treasure, and totally scored.  i found two honkin' candle sticks on the clearance rack (80% OFF!) and on the same rack 2 bizarro, decorative, wooden plates. as individuals, maybe strange, but put them together and hello night stand!  check them out. now on to the basement...

beaver love.

my friend katy is getting hitched in june!  i am honored that she asked kjfdesigns to do the invites. here is how her idea for the save the dates flushed out into a printed postcard.  cute, fun, bright, and warm, just like the happy couple!

snap photos.

have you ever had an exhorbitant amount of great photos from a memorable vacation or fabulous event and would love to display them all but don't want to overwhelm your living space?  i just got back our wedding photos and our photographer is pheonominal at capturing artistic shots.  i picked about 8 of my favorites (of the 700+) and decided to do a romantic photo collage in our bedroom. i duotoned the photos to match our room (a mezcla of warm browns and oranges), printed them in various sizes, framed, mounted, and voila--wall art in a snap.

christmas is coming.

today is the first sunday of advent! thanks has been given and now its time to turn towards welcoming christmas. i lucked out with beautiful weather yesterday and hung up the lights. with the dreary weather today i cozied up and hunkered down to begin designing our first family christmas card. we had quite a year and i wanted to share our most celebrated moment on our joyful card: wedding and honeymoon. enjoy this holiday season! i'd be happy to make one for you, visit kjf designs.

pepto pink.

i have a 50's era, pink, tiled bathroom. not ready to invest in a full gut job, we decided to renew the look with some cosmetic updates. a fresh coat of paint and new fixtures and hardware gave the room a whole new look.  my husband even ventured to hobby lobby to pick out a mirror! my major accomplishment was sewing my first shower curtain and window treatment.  i found a damask print that was wide enough that i didn't have to piece it together to fit the 72 in by 72 in shower opening.  what a find! now its retro sheik.

before the vanity was painted

before the new window treatments

after window treatments a la kjf designs

after new paint on the walls and vanity, new hobby lobby mirror, and retro light fixtures

little pumpkin.

trudy loves pumpkin and she is going to be the best mom! when hosting a baby shower for her in the fall, i immediately was inspired by both the affectionate term and festive fruit. to celebrate trudy's little pumpkin, i decorated with martha stewart's paper poms), baked delicious pumpkin mousse tarts (recipe courtesy of my friend shari), and made favors by filling bottles with reeses pieces embellished with pumpkin ornaments. 7 weeks til the pumpkin pops!

favorite things.

i have a new favorite thing...my niece. she was well worth the wait! she is the most precious, perfectly beautiful thing i have ever seen!  in the 3 days between my meeting her and going back for a visit, i decided to try my hand at quilting.  mind you i have never done this before and i think i bit off more than i can chew. working til the wee hours of the morn i finally finished it.  also well worth the wait, but not near as beautiful, my very first quilt is pictured below.  i used amy butler fabric from her midwest modern line and no particular pattern.

oh boy.

since this niecephew is so slow coming, i opted for a turtle design on the boy onesie. still waiting to see the little one!

oh baby.

i am waiting for my sister to have her baby. the big question is will it be a boy or a girl? as i anticipate its arrival i put my crafty aunt cap on and designed my maybe niece a onesie...stay tuned to see what the nephew's looks like.